All Of The Ways The Ocean Can Kill You

The ocean

From Ishmael of Moby Dick to the captains of Deadliest Catch, something about it calls to the adventurer in all of us

But while life on the sea may seem romantic, you can never forget that at any given moment

Poseidon is waiting to destroy you in an infinite number of ways

So, today, we're dredging up all the ways the ocean can kill you

All right, sailors, hope you packed some floaties. Let's get something out of the way up front

Sea monsters do not exist. There are plenty of large animals that could instantly obliterate you

Totally by accident. But krakens, megalodons, and godzillas only exist in the movies

I know, it hit me hard too. But the ocean doesn't need sea monsters to unmake your day

Among the greatest threats this vast expanse presents to human life is just plain old exposure to cold water

As poor, doorless Jack from Titanic will tell you, even partial submersion in water between

50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit can kill you if you remain there too long, because it quickly

removes the heat from your body. Within just a minute of exposure to ice-cold water, you can enter a kind of shock that

causes dramatic changes to your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. This makes it more taxing to swim to safety, if not impossible

Within 10 minutes, a swimmer in cold water can start to experience loss of muscle control

And it only takes about 20 to 30 minutes for hypothermia to set in. That's barely enough time for a whole podcast

Hypothermia occurs when your body's core temperature reaches below 35 degrees Fahrenheit

In mild cases, the person only suffers mental confusion and extreme shivering

It's actually when the shivering stops that the real trouble begins. Extreme hypothermia can lead to hallucinations, increased risk of heart stoppage, and ultimately

death, the permanent kind. Then there's the movement of water to worry about

Rip currents are channels of water that quickly rush from the shoreline to the sea at speeds

of up to 8 feet per second. Recreational beachgoers may notice that they start swimming in the ocean not very far from

shore, but soon find themselves a good deal away from the beach. That's because water currents slowly and gently carry you out to sea

and they're difficult to spot at the surface as they build up underneath

Rip currents work via the same principle. They're just particularly powerful. As of 2022, rip currents were responsible for about 70 to 100 drownings each year

and they're also responsible for about 80% of lifeguard rescue situations. What makes them so dangerous is not just the actual movement of the water itself

but human psychology People tend to panic when they find themselves being quickly pulled out to sea Then they exhaust themselves swimming directly against the flow of water hoping to reach land If you ever find yourself stuck in a rip current you have a few options You can float and tread

water, letting it carry you out until its power dissipates, typically beyond the line of breaking

waves. Or swim, not against the current, but perpendicular to it, parallel to the shore

until you are out of the current and can make your way back to shore. Your third option is to make some room on that damn door, Rose

As we said, there are no such things as sea monsters, but there are definitely creatures in the ocean waiting to kill you

In fact, one of the deadliest waterborne species isn't even visible to the naked eye

Algae are simple microscopic organisms that typically thrive in water. When summertime storms churn the oceans, it leads to massive blooms of phytoplankton

which obtain their energy via photosynthesis, the same process that trees and other plants

use to grow on land. This in turn leads to huge marine deposits of algae, known as algal blooms

Many of these algal blooms are totally non-toxic and perfectly healthy for humans to be around

But because nature loves surprises, this is not always the case. Some kinds of algae release toxins that are dangerous or even deadly to humans

So when they gather in large deposits, we end up with what's known as harmful algal bloom, or HAB for short

Those clever scientists. Swimming through a HAB can release toxins that impact the human nervous, digestive, respiratory, hepatic, dermatological, and cardiac systems

In other words, just about every process in the human body. In fact, beachgoers who didn't even go in the water but were merely too close to a hab have reported upper respiratory symptoms

irritation to eyes and noses, fevers, and infections. But undetected habs can also get inside the seafood we consume

Neurotoxic poisoning results from the consumption of clams, oysters, mussels, and other shellfish

that have consumed the brevitoxins given off by algal blooms. Complaints include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, partial paralysis, and other symptoms you'd rather not experience

There are 69 different species of snakes that live in the oceans, and many of them are quite venomous

Most sea snakes are found in the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and a number of them bear strong similarities to the land snakes that inhabit Australia, suggesting a common ancestry

Australia's animals are evidently so deadly they've begun invading the ocean. Many sea snakes have paddle-like tails

and compressed bodies ideal for navigating the waters But they not to be confused with fish or eels Sea snakes don have gills and can actually breathe underwater All of them need to occasionally surface to take in oxygen like dolphins whales and

Super Mario in an underwater level. Though many species of sea snakes are highly venomous, they don't always release their

venom when biting, which makes actual human fatalities exceptionally rare. A 2018 Australian fisherman's death from a sea snake bite was actually the first documented

fatality since a pearl diver's death all the way back in 1935

In fact, on several occasions, people have reported getting bitten by sea snakes and

not realizing it until discovering the tooth still lodged in their skin hours later

More than any other creature in the ocean, nothing inspires terror in a hapless swimmer

quite like a shark. They're the LeBron James of aquatic danger. Well, despite what you may have heard from a famous Steven Spielberg movie, or a famous movie where they live inside tornadoes, sharks actually have little interest in eating people

In other words, sharks are likely to be one of your least concerns while you're out at sea

In 2023, there were only 69 reports of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, and of those, only 10 resulted in human fatalities

The deadliest place for shark attacks that year was the United States

and the bulk of those happened in Florida, which alone is responsible for nearly half of the world's shark attacks

Australia had to settle for second place with just 15 attacks. Sharkodile Dundee was devastated

For the most part, when sharks do bite humans, it's by accident. The animal was probably just curious or had mistaken a human or surfboard

for a marine creature that it actually likes to eat. Surprisingly, shark attacks are often survivable

if terrifying and costly in the limb department. They're relatively rare, but if you go looking for trouble

there are some deadly species of octopus that will make you rethink that adorable documentary from a few years back

While many of the eight-legged creatures famously use ink to distract and disorient their enemies

some species are noted for their powerful venom. Blue-ringed octopuses are a species native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans

characterized by their blue and black rings that change color when the animal is threatened

They prefer to eat small crustaceans like crabs and shrimp, but when provoked

they're among the deadliest species of marine life, capable of dispensing tetrodotoxin

the same neurotoxin dispensed by the infamously lethal pufferfish. When a human is exposed to TTX, they experience a loss of sensation accompanied by the paralysis

of muscles, such as the diaphragm, which can cause them to stop breathing entirely

Fortunately if you encounter a blue octopus it will most often avoid conflict unless you give it a reason As a wise man once said don start nothing won be nothing

Among the most mysterious and, let's face it, creepy marine animals is the jellyfish

members of the subphylum Medusazoa that are notable for their free-swimming gelatinous bodies

The jellyfish's squishy part, the so-called bell, is actually composed of a substance called mesaglia

mesoglia, which is mostly water bound together by fibrous proteins like collagen. It's also how the

creature moves through the water. The bell pulsates and contracts, pushing the animal forward like a

cartoon character with bad gas. While some cultures consider jellyfish a culinary delicacy, in the

West, jellyfish are most commonly associated with their painful stings. Many species have tentacles

armed with a specialized kind of cell known as nematocysts, which can pierce skin and inject

venom. Only a certain subset of jellyfish stings are even detectable by humans. Thousands of

swimmers are stung by jellyfish each year, and most of them are just fine a few minutes later

However, there are a few kinds of jellyfish with such potent venom. Their stings are extremely

painful or even fatal to humans, such as a certain species of box jellyfish. Beyond potentially

delivering a killer dose of venom to a person, box jellyfish have significantly more complex

and developed nervous systems than the average jellyfish. Some researchers report they develop more environmentally aware

fish-like behavior in the wild than other jellyfish. And if that's not upsetting enough

some species can have tentacles that stretch over 10 feet long. That's almost one Victor Wembenyama

Box jellyfish are also difficult to avoid if you're looking to start a seafaring life

They're native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, which spans a pretty good stretch of territory

Some box jellyfish have been found as far north as California, as far east as Japan

and as far south as New Zealand. So just stick to the Atlantic and you'll be fine

Still, despite all these sinister facts, the chances of actually getting smoked by a box

jellyfish are fairly low. Most species aren't fatal to humans, and it's estimated that they're responsible for fewer

than 100 human deaths each year. Many box jellyfish stings only produce bad skin irritation

By the way, though it's often repeated in popular media, like that we only use 10% of

our brains nonsense, the idea that human urine can counteract a jellyfish sting is just a myth

There's no direct scientific evidence that it makes any difference. However, applying vinegar directly to a jellyfish sting might have some effect

It neutralizes undischarged nematocysts, which can prevent the release of additional venom

So, even if you do wind up stranded on a desert island, don't take any survival tips from lost